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In honor of Women’s History Month, in a new series of posts, we bring to you five women who challenged the status quo, stood up to the patriarchy, and said, “not today.”
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) An English writer and fierce women’s rights advocate, Mary Wollstonecraft’s seminal work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in the late eighteenth century argued that the female sex is not inferior. Rather, women only seemed inferior to men because they were not given the same education. While men were taught history, economics, philosophy, and geography, women were taught music, embroidery, and painting. How was it a fair judgment to say women were ‘less than,’ when their educations were entirely different? Wollstonecraft contended that both women and men are rational beings and given the same opportunities, were equal to each other. Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) The first woman elected to the United States Congress, Jeannette Rankin got an early start as a social worker in Washington. Rankin ran for her seat as a progressive Republican. She was a suffragist and the only senator to vote against U.S. participation in both World War I and World War II. Of her decision, Rankin said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” Lucy Hicks Anderson (1886-1954) An African American trans woman who would not let the law dictate whom she could and could not marry, Lucy Hicks Anderson fought for trans rights at a time when such rights were unheard of. Before there was such a term as transgender, Anderson argued, “that a person could be of one sex, but actually belong to the other.” When it was learned that Lucy was biologically male, authorities tried her for perjury. Lucy was convicted and put on probation, but she didn’t let this stop her. She was a woman, and no law could say otherwise. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) A brilliant, self-taught artist, Frida Kahlo is most known for her self-portraiture and celebration of indigenous Mexican traditions. Using bold colors, thick lines, and magic realism, Kahlo created powerful, thought-provoking works about womanhood, sexuality, and the patriarchy. Her paintings, both showing magical realism, and surrealism have a dream-like quality, but don’t let that fool you. Kahlo said of her work, “I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.” It didn’t matter that art was male-dominated Frida made her own way, and has since become a feminist icon. Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) A woman taken before her time, the late prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, challenged social norms and called for a fair and democratic government. Despite the assassinations of her family members and barrage of death threats, Bhutto worked tirelessly to spread democratic ideals and to educate Pakistan’s population on what it was to have an equal and fair government. Bhutto believed in the separation of church and state and was assassinated for her politically secularist beliefs. Though she knew her fight could lead to her death, Bhutto didn’t stop advocating for her people. She will be forever remembered as a leader who put her countrymen first. These women and countless others deserve their time in the spotlight. Is there a woman who has inspired you? Tell us about her in the comments!
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Most of us wait until the start of the new year to start working on our goals. When January passes and we’re in the same spot as we were in December, we tell ourselves we’ll try again next year. We aren’t limited to New Year’s Day. We can set new goals with new time frames any time we want!
If you’re looking for a few tips to help you accomplish your goals, you’re reading the right article. Here are three ways you can set up your goals for success. 1. Make a list It’s easy to say, “I’m going to start doing A, B, and C to accomplish D.” But as you might have experienced (most of us have!), saying isn’t exactly the same as doing. In a study developed by psychology professor Gail Matthews, it was found that people who recorded their goals on paper accomplished more than those who did not. By putting our goals down in writing, we turn an abstract idea into something concrete. The goal is no longer intangible; it’s something real and attainable. Writing our goals down, though, is only one step of the process. This leads us to our second tip, setting a date. 2. Set a date Setting a deadline helps us to prioritize what is critical to achieving our goal. Let’s say a goal is to meet new people. For a little cushion, the deadline is set for one month. What can we do in a month that would help us meet people? That’s easy-write it down:
3. Attend workshops Sometimes, knowing where to start is half the battle. We know we want to do better, to be better, we just don’t know how to do it. This is where getting more active in the community comes in. Workshops, seminars, and classes introduce us to other people with similar goals and teachers who have been where we are now. Workshops like Dare to Dream and others provide perspective, introduce us to ideas and people, and teach us new skills or how to better use ours. The lessons we’re given in these workshops give us still more ways to attain our own goals, and we meet people and get active in the process! You don’t have to wait until New Year’s Day to set your goals; you can start now. All you need are a pen, paper, and a calendar!  My name is Alena and I’m from Russia. I joined Willpowered Woman as Impact Development Director for 3 months. I have more than 5 years of experience in nonprofit organizations and have a diploma in social psychology and economics.
Unfortunately, intimate partner abuse is paid very little attention in my Country. There aren’t any crisis centers or women’s shelter to help survivors. Recently, a law was passed by our Government that decriminalizes intimate partner violence. If a woman involves the Police for the first time, a man will not suffer any punishment. Growing up in Russia, women are brought up under different stereotypes: women should cook, clean the house and care for children, but men need to rest after work; the message is frequently communicated that if a woman isn’t married and doesn’t have children, she will be unhappy and have a sad life. There are a lot of women in Russia who think it’s normal if their husband hurts or humiliates them. I was in an abusive relationship. I met a guy who was jealous, humiliated me, didn’t let me meet with friends and constantly left me with a sense of guilt for wanting other people in my life. I found strength in myself and ended this relationship. For a long time after I could not have a relationship with anyone. I’ve been in many situations where women’s rights were infringed upon because we are women. For example:
Every time in my life when I saw these situations, I asked myself: “Why does it happen so often? What should I do? How can I prevent it?” I found the answers through Willpowered Woman. We have to make a change and stand up to intimate partner abuse. We have to educate at high schools, universities and businesses to prevent intimate partner abuse. We have to develop women’s empowerment. I know we will! When I return to Russia I will be able to help many women in my Country and that really excites me. I look forward to working with the Willpowered Woman community!  Vulnerability is about being honest about our past life events that have shaped who we are and what we may be feeling in the moment. Personally, admitting how much I want something and going for it makes me feel vulnerable. Let me put it in to context. Five years ago I booked a one-way flight from Melbourne to London. I went there to start a shoe business and to work in the fashion industry. I landed amazing jobs with the Headquarters of Burberry, Harrods and REISS. I ensured that I got different jobs to gain experience for my shoe business. After I gathered enough experience, I ventured to do the shoe business alongside my own sales and business consultancy. I worked hard to make these things a success, but then came “my quarter life crisis”. I started to question everything, I felt like my life had no meaning, so I started searching. After a series of events, one of which I ended up in a violent marriage, along with my husband’s comments pertaining to something along the lines of, “I have the power to screw up your Green Card”, I escaped to a shelter for intimate partner abuse survivors. It was only then that I realized I had been a victim of violence my whole life. My father had been cruel and violent towards me my whole childhood and adolescence. It was at the shelter, with nothing, no visa, nowhere to live and very little money that I had to try and find all the solutions to my problems. It was there that I gained insight in to what it was like for a woman trying to get away from a violent partner. I quickly found out that essentially, without children, there were very few long-term housing resources available to me. The only thing that kept me going through that very difficult period of my life was that I was going to do something about this. Women without children should be represented and I was going to be the one to bring it in to fruition. That is what I am doing now and I do notice that I feel extremely vulnerable asking for donations, putting our organization out there and sharing my story. At the same time, I think to myself who better to do it than me? I have so much insight and I have been through it all, so I can use that to help other women and create a community of survivors who were able to get their lives back.  Vulnerability is tricky. It’s not black and white, it’s grey. We want people to know who we are, but it’s also important to let trust build before we share our vulnerabilities. On the other hand, if we have been vulnerable with someone and in a disagreement, that person uses it against us, that gives us information that the person may be untrustworthy. It’s at that point we have the power to distance ourselves.
Through my experiences, I have learnt to observe what people do to better understand their intentions, as they may not have my best interests at heart. The one thing I can say for certain is, people often want clear-cut answers to life and I am here to say, it’s never clear-cut, it’s grey. It seems that most people view vulnerability as an impediment. What we don’t realize is, in using both our vulnerability to feel more connected and our intuition to sense misguided intentions, we have the power to steer the direction of our relationships with others. We are human, we will sometimes face hardship, that’s the reality. In those difficult times where we have been taken advantage of, we can realize that we are more resilient than we realize and hardships enables us to grow stronger. You will never know your own strength until you are faced with hardship and only then, will you be able to take that strength and do things you never thought you could do. In our culture, there are perceived stereotypes that men need to be strong and fearless, and women need to be meek, polite and caring. In reality, a healthy life for men and women is to learn how to use both types of attributes interchangeably. Another thing I have become more aware of is how I use things outside of myself to feel better, weather it be shopping, food or alcohol. Yes, I used to be a shopaholic and I don’t mean that I could tick a few things off the list, I mean that I could tick everything off the list. Then my Papou (grandfather) who was very near and dear to my heart passed away and I had a very strong reaction to my wardrobe. I felt suffocated by all of the clothes and shoes. I couldn’t use them to mask my pain anymore, it was no longer effective. So I gave my whole wardrobe to Goodwill and endeavored to live a life of simplicity. All I can say is I have never felt more free. Thinking back, my wardrobe was my mask, I was more like a mannequin to be admired as opposed to a flesh and blood human being, one that felt her humanity and her vulnerability. By Caitlin D'aprano  My experience with business, and life in general has always been, whatever I imagine, the opportunity appears in my reality. When you hear those random thoughts, like: "Wouldn't it be cool to do a collaboration with Google?", listen and become adamant about achieving it. That is why having vision for business, weather you're starting out or are a pre-existing business, is extremely important. Having vision means that you already have the idea in your conscious mind, so when the opportunity appears, you have the ability to see it. In 2010 I booked a one-way ticket to London from Melbourne, Australia. I was moving to London, the fashion centre of the world, to fulfill my dreams of working as a buyer in luxury fashion and to start my shoe and accessories business. The shoe industry is one of the most difficult industries to start a business in, for the pure fact that you need 8-10 different components to create a shoe. Everyone told me that I couldn't do it.  For 18 months, I took 7 trips to Italy with the belief that I would eventually meet someone who wanted to help me create my first shoe design.
On the 7th trip, I was taking my flight back to London. The Italians were hard nuts to crack. I was finding it difficult to find a factory who wanted to work with a small business like mine. I felt a little disheartened, wondering if my dreams were ever going to come in to fruition. I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me. His name was Andy. I can't remember what I said that made him laugh, but he seemed to be having a good time chatting to me. It turned out that he was the head designer at a shoe factory in Spain. Our plane landed and we exchanged details. A few weeks later, I found out that I had been accepted to BBC3's reality entrepreneurial program "Be Your Own Boss" But damn, I didn't have a product yet. There was the opportunity to ask Andy to make our first prototype and an excuse to have it done right away. So I asked. Those days waiting for a reply were grueling and nerve wracking. What if he said no? What would I do? So I did what I always do when I feel scarce. I started putting together a list of other options. Until I received the email: Yes we can do it for you but we need a last and a heel. I had spent 18 months prior gathering the components for my shoe design and creating relationships with guess who? Last and heel suppliers. So I contacted them, got the heel and the last made and voila! My first shoe was in physical form. Whenever you feel like giving up, that means that you're ever so close to achieving the next step, so keep going. By Caitlin D'Aprano  When I was living and studying in Rome, I was living in this awful house on the outskirts. The area didn’t feel very safe and the house itself was not very nice. My friend Marieta was renting this cute little apartment in the heart of Rome, a 5-minute walk to class with cafés a step away. Marieta was due to finish her course in a week, so I called the landlord to see if the apartment was available. It was.
The only issue – it was way out of my budget, but I saw an opportunity. All I needed to do was show the landlord how he would be better off to rent me the apartment at a lower rate, than to not have the apartment filled at all. I did the figures and worked out that if he didn’t have the apartment filled for 10 days, that would be equivalent to giving me the price I wanted. So I got the deal! He lowered the rent from €1500 to €1000 per month. Here are Willpowered Woman’s top 5 negotiating tips: 1. Do a competitive analysisPut together a list of businesses that offer the same services and find out how much each of them costs. Then you can figure out your target budget. 2. Pick the business you most want to work withFigure out which business you prefer and has the most of what you want. Then pick the best quoted price from having done your competitive analysis and then ask the preferred business to do the best price you found. Usually they won’t match exactly what you ask, so I am usually willing to go a little higher because they are my business of choice. 3. It gives you confidenceThere is always a certain hurdle within myself that I have to bypass in order to ask for the price that I want, but when I do it, I have noticed that it raises the confidence I have in myself. 4. There is no harm in askingIf someone says no, it’s not the end of the world, you either take the offer as is, or find something else that is better suited. Either way, you haven’t lost anything. The other thing to remember is that most people want to be accommodating. 5. It’s good practice to ask for what you wantI feel super vulnerable when I ask for the price I want. What if I am asking too much? What if they say no? What if they don’t want to work with me because I am negotiating? It’s good to find out that these doubts have never turned out to be true! It is my belief that women absolutely must advocate for themselves and negotiate, whatever the circumstance, weather it be salary, in business, a holiday, buying a car, buying a house, you name it. By Caitlin D'Aprano  Have you ever found yourself questioning your own memory after an argument with someone? Chances are, they were gaslighting you. Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation through which an abuser makes you doubt your own sanity. There are many warning signs that will help you figure out if someone is using gaslighting as a way of manipulating you. While most of the warning signs are very obvious to outsiders, it is much more difficult for a person in an abusive relationship to recognize and acknowledge them. Here are the top six signs you are in an unhealthy relationship and may be a victim of gaslighting:
Or you can Like us on Facebook and look for future blog posts to learn more about the dynamics of an abusive relationship. By Nabah Rizvi, aka: "Thoughts of an Angry Hijabi" |
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